Joe E. Austin, Jr.

Background

Joe Austin is the leader of the firm’s workers’ compensation practice group.

Since 1989, Joe has represented individuals and business clients in hundreds of hearings and appeals before the North Carolina Industrial Commission and the state’s appellate courts. Joe has a general breadth of experience with claims arising in the retail, construction, transportation and health care industries, and also has worked extensively with claims asserted by workers provided by professional employment organizations and staffing agencies.

Joe has developed particular interest in claims involving jurisdictional issues, multi-party claims, insurance coverage matters, death claims, and the preservation and defense of subrogation rights arising out of the payment of workers’ compensation benefits. Joe especially enjoys assisting clients in the trucking and construction fields in defending claims asserted by drivers, subcontractors and their employees. In addition, Joe has helped clients recover hundreds of thousands of dollars in subrogation liens arising out of workers’ compensation claims. Joe also has a significant appellate practice and has co-authored amici curiae briefs to the North Carolina Supreme Court on matters of significance to the business community.

In addition to representing parties before the Industrial Commission, Joe has over ten years experience as a mediator of workers’ compensation disputes. Joe was certified as a specialist in workers’ compensation law by the North Carolina State Bar’s Board of Legal Specialization in 2001. Joe joined Young Moore and Henderson in 1990, following a year of private practice in Winston-Salem. He was elected shareholder in 1995 and is now a member of the firm’s practice management committee. Joe has received an AV Peer Review Rating from Martindale Hubbell law directory.

Joe is a Christian and he and his wife have two children. Joe has taken an active role in church, having served as both a deacon and a consultant, in addition to accepting roles on numerous committees. In 2001, Joe and his wife spent a week performing missions work in Alaska. Joe also enjoys NASCAR, racquetball and hiking.

Practice Areas

• Workers' Compensation
• Insurance Coverage Analysis and Litigation/Bad Faith Litigation
• NCDRC Certified Superior Court Mediator

Education & Bar Admissions

• J.D., Wake Forest University School of Law, 1989
• B.A., Davidson College, 1986
• The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, 1983

Admitted in

• North Carolina, 1989
• U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Middle Districts of North Carolina

Awards & Achievements

• American Jurisprudence Award
• James A. Webster Faculty Award
• Moot Court Board
• Scholastic Honors List
• Listed in North Carolina Super Lawyers™, 2006 and 2007

Professional & Civic Activity

• Wake County Bar Association
• North Carolina Bar Association, Workers’ Compensation Section
• North Carolina State Bar; Dispute Resolution Commission Certified Mediator, Board Certified Specialist in Workers’ Compensation Law
• Defense Research Institute
• North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys
• Member, accreditation steering committee, Grace Christian School; board member/chairman (previous)

Milestones

• Johnson v. Southern Tire Sales and Serv., 358 N.C. 701, 599 S.E.2d 508 (2004) (burden of proof on issue of disability and constructive refusal of suitable employment).
• Segovia v. J.L. Powell & Co., 167 N.C. App. 354, 608 S.E.2d 557 (2004) (employee who is unable to work solely due to economic conditions is not entitled to compensation for disability).
• Parker v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 156 N.C. App. 209, 576 S.E.2d 112 (2003) (Industrial Commission is required to find that employee is unable to earn wages in the same or any other employment before awarding disability compensation ).
• Cialino v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 156 N.C. App. 463, 577 S.E.2d 345 (2003) (employee is not entitled to presumption of ongoing disability unless there has been a prior determination of disability and rebuttal of presumption in favor of ongoing causation).
• Scurlock v. Durham County General Hospital, 136 N.C. App. 144, 523 S.E.2d 439 (1999) (employee has burden of proving willingness to cooperate with rehabilitation after benefits are suspended).
• Royce v. Rushco Food Stores, Inc., 139 N.C. App. 322, 533 S.E.2d 284 (2000) (presumption of disability ends when employee returns to work and release to return to work alone does not establish disability).
• Perez v. American Airlines/AMR Corp., 360 N.C. 587, 634 S.E. 2d 887 (2006) (direct payment of disability benefits without award of Industrial Commission does not constitute final award such that employee is required to prove change in condition to recover additional compensation).
• Knight v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 149 N.C. App. 1, 562 S.E.2d 434 (2002), aff’d, 357 N.C. 44, 577 S.E.2d 620 (2003) (proof of disability and significance of maximum medical improvement).
• Hansen v. Crystal Ford-Mercury, Inc., 138 N.C. App. 369, 531 S.E.2d 867, disc. rev. denied, 353 N.C. 263, 546 S.E.2d 94 (2000) (health insurance carrier’s right to intervene in workers’ compensation proceedings).
• Johnson v. First Union Corp., 351 N.C. 339, 525 S.E.2d 171 (2000) (denial of tort liability for employer, carrier, rehabilitation vendor and their employees for actions undertaken in connection with workers’ compensation claim).
• Strickland v. Carolina Classics Catfish, Inc., 119 N.C. App. 97, 458 S.E. 2d 10 (1995), aff’d, 342 N.C. 640, 466 S.E. 2d 276 (1996) (sufficiency of evidence refuting intoxication as proximate cause of injury).
• Craft v. Bill Clark Constr. Co., 123 N.C. App. 777, 474 S.E. 2d 808, disc. rev. denied, 345 N.C. 179, 479 S.E. 2d 203 (1996) (computation of average weekly wages).
• Strickland v. Carolina Classics Catfish, Inc., 127 N.C. App. 615, 492 S.E. 2d 362 (1997), disc. rev. denied, 347 N.C. 585, 502 S.E. 2d 617 (1998) (calculation of death benefits).
• Effingham v. Kroger Co., 149 N.C. App. 105, 561 S.E.2d 287 (2002) (burden of proof on issue of disability and classification of benefits as permanent or temporary).
• Harvey v. Cedar Creek BP, 149 N.C. 873, 562 S.E.2d 80 (2002) (sanctions for failure to appear at scheduled hearing).
• Brown v. Kroger Co., 169 N.C. App. 312, 610 S.E.2d 447 (2005) (increase in compensation due to OSHA violation)
• Hunt v. Tender Loving Care Home Health Care Agency, 153 N.C. App. 266, 569 S.E.2d 675 (2002) (health care worker’s injury sustained in motor vehicle accident while traveling home from patient’s residence is not compensable).

Disclaimer: The above information may not necessarily reflect the attorney’s entire record, and the outcome of any particular future matter cannot be predicated on the attorney’s or law firm’s past results.